Designing buildings to adapt for local climates isn’t a new concept, but when the local climate begins to change, so too must building design and construction. Designing buildings for the local climate isn’t a new concept, but when the local climate begins to change, so must building design. As...

The catalyst in your reactor represents a significant portion of your chemical plant or refinery’s operating costs. Protecting it is key not only to your productivity but also to preserving your bottom line. Since moisture is enemy number one, controlling the climate in the reactor during catalyst...

Tracking overruns and their sources in real time can protect turnaround budgets. Plant turnaround managers know how important it is to meet their budgets. Stay on or under budget and earn the bosses’ approval and maybe a bonus. Exceed the budget and suffer the consequences. Equipment rentals make up...

The biggest budget-buster on virtually any construction site is delays. Every time the schedule gets pushed back, the budget begins to skyrocket. As software provider Deltek noted in a recent white paper, a 3-year project with a $50 million contract can be broken down to a value of $45,662 each day....

As summer approaches and more drivers hit the road, refineries must increase production to meet peak demand for gasoline and leverage the window of opportunity for increased revenue and profits. But oftentimes they hit a roadblock: The built-in rundown cooling system that cools the fuel once it...

Many companies in construction and heavy industry have a blind spot around equipment usage — one that’s costing them billions of dollars. A Texas A&M University study found that 82 percent of survey participants believed increasing equipment utilization could increase ROI, but nearly half of those...

Temporary bypass systems allow for necessary maintenance and repair. Aging infrastructure and a growing population are placing a significant strain on sewer and public water systems in the United States. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 240,000 water main breaks occur...

3 must-dos to set you up for success right out of the gate. Early in his career, Russell Goss worked on a construction project for which the architect had designed a shower made from large panes of glass. When Goss and his team got the materials to the site, they discovered the glass panes wouldn’t...

Every photo you upload to the cloud, every email you send, every video you stream, every purchase you make from Amazon, every byte of telematics data your equipment generates — all of them pass through servers housed in data centers. It’s no wonder that more and bigger data centers are sprouting up...

Increase your return on investment with these strategies. Contractors estimate that their equipment, whether owned or rented, represents about 20 percent of their costs. That’s a big chunk of change. And any time your heavy equipment is idle, it’s costing you money. How often does your heavy...